


Azazel, Number 1 babysitter

by Sister_Aurelia



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Brotherhood of Mutants, Domestic Fluff, Family, Fix-It, Fluff, Happy Ending, Homework, Kid Fic, M/M, Mansion Fic, Minor Character Death, Moving In Together, Panic Attacks, Parental Spanking, Reconciliation, Recovery, Spanking, Triggers, Twins, Wrongful Imprisonment, X Mansion, X-Men First Class Kink Meme, dadneto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3753907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sister_Aurelia/pseuds/Sister_Aurelia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Azazel is on a reconnaissance mission in the Xavier Mansion he comes across someone unexpected...</p>
<p>Originally for a prompt on the xmfk meme, has expanded quite a bit since that and is also on ff.net.</p>
<p>Seriously, Azazel is the best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fancy meeting you here

Scott Summers considered himself a brave boy. He hadn't even cried when his big brother Alex had told him goodbye before he had to go "on a long journey, no, you can't come along, champ, I'm very sorry, but I love you, buddy," and had left him at the orphanage. (He  _had_  cried a little when Alex came to fetch him a few months later with a kind man in a wheelchair and told him they finally had a home again – but that was alright, Alex had cried, too.)

But now he was feeling something which maybe could have been a tiny little bit fear – which was why he grabbed his broomstick tighter as he neared the door of the Professor's study.

There were suspicious noises coming through the door! The Professor was away with Hank and Alex on a mission, Sean had stayed behind to look after "the X-kids" (Sean's words – as there were Jean, Scott himself and the little Ororo). Scott knew for a fact that Sean and the girls had been asleep ten minutes ago when he had went down to the kitchen for a glass of water (not for a slice of the delicious chocolate cake still in the fridge, not at all!).

This could only mean one thing: Robbers!

In the Professor's study!

Perhaps they had come to steal the Professor's precious chess board? Everyone knew it was very special, no one but the Professor ever touched it – and when he took one of the black pieces (always the black ones, never the white), he handled them as if they were made out of crystal and could break anytime.

So when Scott had heard the robbers he had run quietly to the nearby broom closet and armed himself. There was no time to wake Sean – by the time he would have run up all these stairs the robbers could have been gone – and he could always take off his glasses if they wanted to harm him.

Now he was tiptoeing to the door... he had his hand on the handle... he took a deep breath...

"Hands in the air, you robbers!" he screamed while he threw the door open.

He had been expecting one, maybe two thugs in black masks and with huge bags to shove in the … um, books, perhaps? Or the chessboard, yes.

What he  _hadn't_  been expecting was a picture book devil come to life.

"Oh!" he gasped, "You're one of us! Don't worry, you're safe, we're all special here."

The devil-man blinked at him. "Hello,  _malchik_. Should you not be in bed?" he asked with a funny accent that sounded a bit like Mr Chekov from that  _totally awesome_  new TV Series taking place in space.

Scott shrugged. "I just wanted to get some water from the kitchen. You want to come? We've got some great chocolate cake leftover."

The devil man leveled a thoughtful look at him, then he stepped closer. "Alright, comrade, lead the way."

Scott held out his hand once he'd gotten near. "I'm Scott, by the way. So, what can you do?"

By way of explanation, the devil man took his hand and then the study around them disappeared and they were standing in the kitchen in a quickly dissolving cloud of red smoke.

The devil man gave him a little nod. "Azazel, at your service."

Scott's eyes grew wide and he grabbed one of Azazel's hands in both of his, shaking it up and down and squealing in absolute delight "Again, again! Can you go anywhere? You've got the _best_  power, ever!"

Azazel grinned at him – and then they were  _flying!_  Well, more like falling, actually, and oh god, was that really the mansion down there, all tiny like a doll's house but rapidly growing bigger? But before Scott had time to worry they were standing once again in the kitchen, as if nothing had happened.

"Ohhh, that was beyond cool! Can we do it again?  _Pleeeeaaase?_ "

Azazel obviously was amused by Scott's puppy dog expression, but he shook his head. "I think you need some of that cake first,  _da_? To keep your strength up."

That was when Scott remembered his manners and offered to make tea. Azazel accepted gracefully and they were just sitting and eating companionably, when the door flew open and Sean stormed in, two little girls peaking around the corner behind him.

Sean's eyes grew huge like saucers and he didn't got farther than "You!" before Scott's flood of words washed over him while the boy tugged at his sleeve.

"Sean! Sean! Guess what, I've found another mutant friend! This is Azazel, and apart from looking amazing did you know he also can go anywhere he likes in less than a second! And he even has a tail! He took me flying and I guess you can come, too, if you ask nicely."

The little Ororo had peaked up at the mention of a tail and now went to pet it reverently, like she did with the cats which lived in the currently empty stable buildings.

Jean, ever practical, had helped herself to a piece of cake in the meantime and declared around it: "You're red, I like that. Uncle Hank is blue, but I think red is prettier. Can we braid your hair?"

Sean sighed, but seemed to relax when Azazel picked up Ororo and put her in his lap. "Would you like cake,  _milaja_?" Azazel asked, before he looked over to Sean and gave him a shrug and a wink.

"Seriously, Azazel, what are you doing here? I mean except from charming the kids, obviously," Sean asked while he helped himself to some cake as well.

"Oh, you know, comrade, just popping in..." the red man smirked.

"Sean, Sean, can we go and play with Azazel some more? The girls haven't seen what he can do yet!" Scott pleaded. Sean shot a calculating look at the red man and than cast a glance at the kids.

"I think you should wash your hands first. And your faces, 'Ro, sweetie, you've got chocolate  _everywhere_ , even in your hair!"

While Scott cheered, Sean took Ororo to the sink to clean her as best as he could. Jean helped Azazel to put the (noticeable much smaller) rest of the cake back to the fridge.

Half an hour and an uncountable number of trips to any number of places on the estate later (including the roof, the top of the satellite dish, the air, the air, the air! and at last the middle of the pool, before a quick trip to a bathroom to get all the excited kids toweled dry) the children were all fast asleep, completely exhausted after so much fun.

Sean clapped a hand on Azazels back.

"Dude, that was totally rad. Do you think you could come over again some time when I'm on babysitting duty? You're much better at getting them to sleep than I am."

Azazel raised an eyebrow. "Under one condition. You must never speak of this with the rest of the Brotherhood, it would undermine my position."

Sean shook his hand eagerly. "Deal."

Azazel gave him a Shark like grin that would have made Erik proud, saluted shortly and was gone in a cloud of red smoke.

Sean smiled as he went back to bed. He would make sure there was plenty of cake the next night he was the babysitter. And perhaps a bottle of expensive Vodka.

* * *

_malchik = little boy_

_da = yes_

_milaja = darling_


	2. Well, that was unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cursive= emphasis or people speaking in Polish
> 
> bold = people speaking telepathically

 

**Azazel, get here, now.**

Azazel did, no questions asked. When they were on a mission he was the reinforcement only a call away. What he saw when he rematerialized next to Emma made him pause nonetheless.

He simply raised an eyebrow at her.

"You need to take these two children, bring them to safety at once and keep them there until I tell you otherwise. We will be occupied here for at least one more hour, come check on us if you don't hear anything in the meantime."

Azazel just nodded. He wasn't all that surprised Emma assumed he could work with children, after all it was very hard keeping secrets from her without one of those hideous helmets. So he crouched down to appear less threatening, reached out an open hand in invitation and used the voice that had worked before to calm down little children after a nightmare.

"Hello,  _malchiki_."

The guarded faces of the two children huddled close together in a corner lit up a bit, and then the boy began to speak rapidly in Polish.

Well, that was unexpected. But nothing Azazel couldn't handle (having lived a rather long time he picked up a lot of languages and Polish was similar enough to the familiar Russian it didn't cause him any difficulties) and he answered him in kind that yes, he had come to take them away from the bad scary people in white coats and yes, he would do anything to find their papa. So if they could just give him their hands he would get them to safety at once.

Obviously meeting someone who spoke their mother's tongue rather than that of their captors made the children trust him enough to lay their little hands in his and after a last nod to Emma they were gone with a whisk of smoke.

Azazel hadn't really thought about it, just wanting to get the children away from those horrible labs and somewhere safe as quickly as possible, but looking back he might have found it a bit alarming that they ended up in Westchester rather than at one of the many safehouses the Brotherhood had around the globe.

Perhaps all these evenings of babysitting had left the unconscious notion in his mind that Xavier's school was the safest place for mutant children. (Well. It kind of  _was_ , actually.)

In any case he was glad the Professor (despite all his  _really, Azazel, call me Charles_  he would always remain the Professor for him) hadn't objected to his help in babysitting when he learned about it, but welcomed him with open arms (after a cursory sweep for bad intentions, of course). Things being as they were Azazel only needed to call out  **Professor?**  softly as they arrived and could be sure to have any aid he might need with the traumatized children.

While the Professor alerted the rest of the team of the newcomers, Azazel explained to the children what just happened, and that they were among friends now.

" _Can you tell me your names, my darlings?_ _I am called Azazel._ " The teleporter said then and was satisfied to learn they were named Pietro and Wanda and apparently brother and sister. Pietro was the one who did the talking, as Wanda seemed to be very shy – not surprising after meeting new people and being whisked away to a new place so suddenly. They didn't look older than five, perhaps six years old, but he had seen enough malnourished children to know looks could be deceiving in such situations. He didn't want to think about what had happened to the children in those labs before the Brotherhood found them, although he might need to check them for injuries sooner rather than later.

All the while he had felt the Professor's presence in his mind, looking through the relevant information about the children (little as there was) and heard him announce to Hank that he best loose his lab coat as to not to scare the kids.

**Also, they seem to trust me partially because I speak** **Polish as opposed to their captors who spoke English,** **so** **...**  Azazel began thinking at the Professor.

**You should be the one doing the talking, of course. We'll just smile and be helpful,** **yes** **?**  Charles answered him in kind.

" _Wanda, Pietro, would you like to meet a few friends of mine? They are special, just like you and me and they're very nice. They won't hurt you, all right?"_  Azazel asked his two young charges.

The children exchanged an anxious look and gripped his hands tighter.  _"Will you stay with us, Uncle Azazel?"_  Pietro asked, his voice slightly trembling.

" _Of course I will! Don't worry, I will be with you the entire time."_

Pietro exchanged another look with his sister and after a little nod of her he squared his shoulders.  _"Alright. Let's meet them."_

Azazel smiled at them and then gave them a hug.  _"You are so brave, I am very proud. Now, why don't we sit down on this nice sofa while we wait? They should be here shortly."_

While the Professor and Hank were on their way, Azazel chatted away with the children, grateful that they didn't seem too traumatized. All ideological disagreements aside, he thought both Xavier and Lehnsherr actually did the best they could for mutantkind – you needed someone to free mutant children from laboratories, and you also needed a safe place to stay for those children afterwards. So.

(He didn't know what had happened between Lehnsherr and Xavier before that day on the beach, but he did know that they began exchanging letters some time back – he was the one who had to pick them up from the Brotherhood's P.O. Box, after all. Lehnsherr repaid these favors in quite tasteful liquor, so he wasn't about to complain. And since the letters started, some of the ever present tension seemed to seep out of their fearless leader, which was a big plus in Azazel's opinion.)

When the Professor and Hank arrived, the children were actually too delighted by Hank's blue fur and Xavier's ability to guess  _every_  number they thought of, no matter how often they tried, to mind that both spoke English. Soon the adults had learned the sad, but thankfully not gruesome tale of the twins' imprisonment.

A quick and careful exam of the children revealed no injuries that needed immediate medical attention. Apparently the facility had specialized in behavioral tests rather than a more hands-on approach of studying.

They had ended up in the kitchen by now and Hank was fixing the children some dinner consisting of sandwiches and reheated soup from lunch.

Pietro shyly tugged at Azazel's sleeve and when he bent down to him whispered in his ear  _"Do you think we can look for our papa now?"_

" _Of course we can, sweetheart. May I ask the Professor for help? He's really good at finding people."_

Pietro had a quick, whispered conversation with his sister and then nodded. Azazel relayed the problem to the Professor, who smiled at the children.

"Would you allow me to look through your memories for a hint of your papa? I promise it won't hurt," Xavier asked gently. The twins nodded readily.

The Professor's eyes closed in concentration and stayed like this for about half a minute and then they snapped open suddenly.

"Oh. Oh dear."

Azazel frowned at him. "What is the matter?"

The Professor took a breath and then smiled at the children. "Well, the good message is, I do know who your father is. And we can find him quite easily, I should think."

Pietro and Wanda watched him in awe. "Really? You can find our papa?" Pietro whispered.

The Professor nodded and squeezed his hand. "Yes, my dear boy. You see, the problem is that your papa unfortunately doesn't know of you two."

The children nodded. "Yes, mama told us she didn't know she was pregnant until she sent him away," Pietro said. Wanda continued quietly, "After our sister Anya died." Pietro hugged her tightly and went on, "And mama said she was very sorry about that later and tried to find him everywhere but he was gone."

The Professor nodded again, sympathetically. "I'm sure if he had known he would have found you a long time ago. Your papa loved your mama very much, and your sister, too. I know he will love you just as much, once he gets to know you."

"Oh please, can we go and find him now?" Pietro asked with heartbreaking hope shining in his eyes.

The Professor exchanged a quick glance with Azazel. The teleporter looked at him resolutely. "Just tell me a name and a place and I'll fetch him," he promised.

The young man smiled a bit sadly.  **It's Erik** , he told Azazel telepathically, turning back to the children while the red mutant still reeled from the shock.

"If Uncle Azazel fetches your papa, would you let me explain everything to him at first? He might need a minute to comprehend he's got two lovely children."

That made the twins smile and nod. The Professor clapped his hands. "Excellent. Azazel, would you do the honours?"

The teleporter nodded, hugged the children once more and with the promise, " _I'll be back very soon,"_  he was gone.

The rest of the Brotherhood had handled the situation back at the labs just fine, which was just as well, because Azazel needed their fearless leader undistracted right now.

He shot a quick glance at Emma, knowing she would check for the events of the last hour. It really was a testimony to her that she didn't bat an eyelash by the admittedly rather overwhelming news concerning their leader's updated family status, just nodded when Azazel told said leader that he needed to come with him. Azazel ended up bringing the rest of the Brotherhood (and the files they had gathered) to their current safehouse first, because clearly this would take all night.

When Lehnsherr and him rematerialized in Xavier's lobby, the Professor was already there to greet them. Azazel would have been applauding Lehnsherr's composure if he didn't suspect that his fearless leader basically only possessed two settings of emotion, rage and snark.

He nodded towards the Professor and left to check up on the children.

He found them in the kitchen once again, now freshly bathed and in clean clothes, where Hank was absolutely spoiling them with cookies and milk.

The twins were delighted to see him again. Pietro ran to him and tugged at his sleeve while jumping up and down with superhuman speed. " _Uncle Azazel! Did you find our papa? Did you bring him? Is he here now?"_

Azazel laughed and spun the boy around in a circle. " _Yes, darling, I found your papa. He is having that chat with Uncle Charles first, you know?"_

Pietro nodded, but then a look of apprehension came to his face. He motioned for Azazel to come nearer and when the teleporter bent down to him, whispered into his ear,  _"What if he doesn't want us?"_

Azazel hugged the boy tightly. He whispered back,  _"Of course your papa will want you."_

" _Promise?"_

Azazel laid a hand on his heart and said solemnly,  _"I swear_ _on everything I hold dear."_

That seemed to calm Pietro a little bit and soon he was leading Azazel back to the table and asked Hank if he could have cookies and milk, too. (He could.)

Azazel stayed with them trough dinner and then they just ended up snuggled in bed with him telling them stories and everyone waiting for the Professor and Magneto to finish their talk.

They must have had, at some point, because there was a tentative knock on the bedroom door and then Lehnsherr entered, without the atrocious helmet and with suspiciously red rimmed eyes (but Azazel wouldn't judge, and honestly, he was preferring his fearless leader having some actual human emotions to him going off destroying piping in rage any day).

The children went quiet and just looked at this man, this stranger, coming tentatively nearer and finally sitting gingerly on the bed, eyes roaming over them like the ones of a starving man at a buffet.

He reached out a hand to each of them and said, his voice a bit hoarse and his Polish a bit rusty, " _Hello, Pietro, Wanda. I am your father."_

And just like that, a spell seemed to be broken and both children rushed forward to be welcomed in a warm, and quite teary embrace.

Azazel took this as his cue to leave. His leader clearly was staying the night and Hank had invited him to their poker game. Azazel had every intention to wipe the floor with the X-Men. The superiority of the Brotherhood would once again be proven.

 


	3. An important question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Wanda's point of view, and it's written in second person. Enjoy!

"Papa, will you tell us a story?" You ask, while you're all comfortable snuggled up with him and Pietro in your bed. You and Pietro share one big bed, because it was so horrible to be separated by metal bars for so long and you could only hold hands through the bars and you never want to sleep apart ever again. And papa completely understands and has gotten you a big bed to share. It's big enough that he fits in it as well when he reads to you or tells you stories in the evenings, and it's the best bed ever.

Papa smiles. "What do you want to hear,  _ketzile_? A fairy tale?"

You shake your head. "No. Tell us about our family."

He nods and thinks for a minute.

"You had an aunt once. "

You know this aunt from papa's tales and you love to hear about her.

"Her name was Ruthie and she had the most brilliant smile. We would play in the backyard, I would push her on the swing and she would squeal in delight, her hair and her dress flowing. She said it was almost like flying.

On the weekends we would go to the woods and build little dams in the stream and collect berries and mushrooms and pretend we were explorers in the jungle."

He smiles then, it's the small and sad little smile that you know so, so well. He always smiles like that when he thinks of them – mama and grandma and grandpa and aunt Ruthie and your sister Anya you never got to know. Everyone he's lost. But then he turns and looks at you and your brother and his eyes grow warmer and he reaches out to embrace you both and you always feel a little better then.

"What colour was her hair?" Pietro asks quietly, because that is a concern for him. No one has silver-white hair like he does, except really old people. But recently you've got to know Uncle Hank who has blue hair all over, so Pietro doesn't feel so weird any more.

Papa smiles at him and kisses his forehead. "Her hair was blond, very light, almost like yours when the sun shone on it. Your grandmother loved to braid it for her and she had a lot of ribbons in different colours to tie it."

Pietro is glad, you can tell.

"What was her favorite dish?" You ask.

Papa's smile grows wider. "She had a sweet tooth, just like you,  _ketzile_." He leans forward and kisses your nose, which makes you giggle. "She begged our mama to make us  _teiglach_  very often - it's normally only eaten on the holidays but sometimes mama would relent."

"Can we make  _teiglach_ , papa?" Pietro asks.

"Of course we can,  _bubeleh_."

You love it when papa speaks Yiddish, it always reminds you a little bit of mama, how she would joke and laugh with you and Pietro. Papa explains to Pietro how the  _teiglach_  are made and you look forward to making them very much.

But now it's time for all good children to go to sleep, papa says, and so you do just that.

* * *

The next morning, papa has to work with the rest of the brotherhood, and he asks if you would like to spend the day at uncle Charles'. You both tell him you'd love to, because it's always fun at the Xavier mansion.

It's almost as great as the days when papa doesn't have to work and you get to spend lots of time with him, baking or going to the park or visiting strange new places with uncle Azazel.

Uncle Azazel is your favorite of all the brotherhood. Not only because he rescued you and Pietro from the scary men in the white coats, but also because he's always up for playing with you or showing you around. At first papa was a little wary of you and Pietro going off alone with him, but he has loosened up a lot.

In fact, when you think about it, papa is of course your favorite of the brotherhood, but that's because he's  _papa_!

It's the best thing in the world that uncle Charles could find him for you and that you can live with him now and that he's got special mutant powers just like you and Pietro.

Uncle Charles explained to you that mutant powers can be passed on from parents to their children like you've got mama's nose and like Pietro's smile is the same as papa's, even if his teeth are not as sharp and pointy.

Papa can smile like a shark, it's really great. Sometimes when you and Pietro go and wake papa up in the morning he will wrestle with you and pretend to be a shark on the look out for little fishies. Pietro is always able to wriggle away quickly but you're sometimes caught by the shark and then tickled instead of eaten. It's lots of fun to wake up papa.

Sometimes he's awake earlier than you, going on a run. Papa can run really fast, but Pietro can still be a lot faster if he wants to. They often go running together and Pietro is always so happy about that. You don't like running that much, sure it's fun for some time but you get bored by it way earlier than Pietro and papa.

What you really like is playing cards or board games with uncle Azazel and sometimes uncle Janos and aunt Raven. You don't really know how it works, but all cards and all dice seem to be always in your favor. That seems to have to do something with your mutant powers, but none of the scary men in lab coats could ever define them.

With Pietro it's easy, he can run really fast. And do everything else really fast, too. One time there was an apple pie (and Pietro just  _loves_  apple pie) and Pietro had been running around a lot all afternoon and was quite hungry and the adults were talking about something in the living room instead of coming to the kitchen to eat pie – and, well. Pietro had waited as long as he could stand, but in the end he gave you one piece of pie and the rest vanished faster than you could blink. By the time the adults did finally come in, you had eaten your piece, too and the whole pie was gone.

Uncle Azazel had just laughed and popped out to get some more pie.

It's great that the adults are all mutants, too. Everyone understands about being different than the others. But instead of making you do tests and experiments they all are really nice and trying to make you feel at home.

The adults don't seem to mind that you have such good luck in the games all the time. Uncle Azazel brought back some games from his travels that are not all about luck, but require planning, too. They're a huge challenge and you like them very much.

So, when you leave papa out, uncle Azazel really is your favorite of the brotherhood.

Uncle Charles might be your favorite of the X-Men.

He's kind and soft-spoken and even lets you ride along in the wheelchair, sitting on his lap. Aunt Raven said that uncle Charles did not always have a wheelchair but there was an accident and now he can't walk. That's really sad, you think.

For some time after hearing that you tried to make Pietro wear a helmet all the time – what if he had an accident, too? You think Pietro would just never stop crying if he couldn't run anymore. You neither.

But uncle Hank finally convinced you that Pietro can prevent most accidents because he can move out of the way really fast.

Uncle Charles can not only guess any number you're thinking and talk to you without either of you opening your mouth. He's really great at helping you remember things, too. Like that one time when you were so sad because Mama was dead and not coming back and uncle Charles helped you remember one special afternoon when you were baking with Pietro and her. It was like you were back there, it felt so real.

You really hope you and Pietro can go to uncle Charles' school some day. It would be so much fun to learn together with other mutant kids, like Scott and Ororo and Jean. They're all really nice, and they have exciting powers, too.

So, today you ask uncle Charles if he would have you and Pietro as pupils, and he tells you that he would love to, but he needed to talk to your papa, first.

When uncle Azazel comes over to collect you both later in the afternoon Pietro asks him if he could bring papa over for a little bit first and uncle Azazel just smiles and nods, and vanishes.

He is back within a minute and papa came with him – and is soon tackled by yourself and Pietro because it's always great to see papa!

After that you both tell him that uncle Charles wanted to ask him if you could come study at his school and if he would please go talk to him?

Papa smiles his shark smile and goes into the study. Before the door closes you can hear uncle Charles saying "Erik, welcome my friend" very warmly.

In fact, every time you talk about papa with uncle Charles his eyes begin to twinkle and his voice becomes a little warmer, it's curious. (But you think it's only right because papa is wonderful!)

Pietro can't just stand around and wait for papa and uncle Charles to decide, so he starts zipping around the hallway, and then up and down the stairs and then you hear the faint sound of the front door opening and closing and know that Pietro has gone for a run on the grounds.

"Would you like some cake while we wait, Wanda?" Uncle Azazel asks. "Sean told me they had some left over in the fridge."

"Really? What kind of cake?" You ask, getting a bit excited, because the cake at uncle Xavier's mansion is always delicious.

"Let's have a look, shall we?" Uncle Azazel says with a smile and offers you his hand. Within a second you're in the kitchen and uncle Azazel is serving you a piece of lemon cake, which is as tasty as always.

You chat away about the exciting things you've done today with the X-kids (and wouldn't it be very fancy to become a X-kid, too?) and uncle Azazel tells you a little about what the rest of the brotherhood did today.

Some time later Pietro whizzes by and stops shortly to inhale a slice of lemon cake as well, before he is off again. It's not so long after that Papa comes into the kitchen with a smile on his face and you jump from the chair to run over to him. He picks you up and throws you in the air, laughing. "Let's catch your brother and then we'll go home, _ketzile_."

Papa steps outside and calls for Pietro and a moment later Pietro skids to a halt in front of you, only to be picked up and thrown in the air as well under shrieks of delight. Uncle Azazel joins you, and just smiles.

"Say good bye to uncle Charles," Papa instructs and you think  **'Bye, uncle Charles!'**  at him and get a warm  **'Have a good evening, dear children'**  back.

Then you all join hands and end up back at the current house of the brotherhood. You don't really know in which country it is located, but it's warm and there is a beach nearby and there is always fresh fruit.

Papa takes you and Pietro to the den and then asks if you had fun at uncle Charles' today and you both tell him all about it.

"Uncle Charles is the best!" Pietro sums it up excitedly and you nod, because you agree with him wholeheartedly.

Apparently papa does too, because a small and soft smile breaks out on his face and he quietly says: "He really is."

"So, can we go to uncle Charles' school, then?" Pietro asks, and you have to chime in because it would be  _so cool_  if you could go. "Please papa?"

Papa laughs and gives Pietro and you each a kiss on the nose. "Yes, you may. I don't know anyone I'd trust more with you two than uncle Charles. But you need to be good for him, all right?"

Pietro and you both nod enthusiastically and you both throw yourself at Papa for a hug, promising to be on your very best behaviour.

"I'm glad to hear that." Papa tells you with a kiss to the temple for each and then he sends you off to wash hands because its time for dinner now.

That night when you're in bed and only the night light is shining gently you and Pietro whisper for a long time about all the exciting things you'll get to learn at uncle Xavier's school, until you fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ketzile = little cat, an endearment
> 
> Bubeleh = little boy, also an endearment
> 
> teiglach = dough pieces, little pastries traditionally eaten on some of the Jewish holidays, wikipedia knows more about them!


	4. A late night visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, you fine and patient readers!
> 
> I've been working on further chapters for some time now, and I'm afraid it's going to get more angsty from here on out. Don't worry, there are only happy endings in my stories, but these lovely people have been through a lot and something was going to come up sooner or later.
> 
> I'd like to point out again that this an AU, so neither Charles nor Erik are as angry and stubborn as in the movies and there are more tears than fighting.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Charles was woken by a complicated ball of emotions appearing suddenly under his window. He knew it was Erik right away, but even if his feelings were often complex and tangled, they were seldom this acute mix of misery, guilt, sorrow, and helplessness.

 

He could have picked out that mind in a crowd of a thousand people.

 

**Erik,** he whispered mentally. **Would you like to come in?**

 

He got back agonizing desperation mixed up with a tiny tendril of hope which amounted to **Can I? Really?** when you knew how to read Erik, and Charles was an expert at that.

 

**Of course. You're always welcome, my friend. Come on up.**

 

Erik took the quickest way - flying up to the window, unlatching it from outside, and stepping through.

 

Charles had sat up in bed already when he heard the window open, and stuffed some pillows between his back and the headboard.

 

Erik just stood in front of the window awkwardly and Charles held out a hand to him in invitation.

 

After a long moment Erik took a few halting steps towards the bed and came to a stop near the foot.

 

Charles gave him a small smile. “Would you like a seat, Erik?”

 

Erik all but collapsed on the edge on the bed and took a ragged breath.

Charles heart went out to Erik. To see him in such pain and not being sure if his comfort would be welcome was hard for him.

Thankfully Erik had sat down near enough for Charles to lay a hand on his shoulder, and that's exactly what he was doing now.

 

Erik jumped a little in surprise, but then he turned towards Charles and clutched Charles' hand like a lifeline.

“Could you ... could you have a look,” Erik asked hoarsely.

 

It was Charles' turn to be startled now. Coming to the mansion without the helmet was one thing, but actively inviting Charles into his head was something Erik hadn't done since before that fateful day on the beach.

“Of course, thank you.”

 

Charles closed his eyes in concentration and carefully sifted through Erik's recent memories.

 

His heart clenched painfully at seeing the cause for Erik's distress. He saw him fighting with Raven, felt his annoyance and heard the raised voices. Then suddenly Azazel was between both of them, whisking them away to the roof and telling them coldly they had better get it out of their systems up here, because he was not going to let them destroy the hard won trust the traumatized twins had developed.

Charles felt Erik's horror at causing his children such anguish, and saw him take the stairs down in a few leaps, only slowing down in the flat so he didn't spook them any further.

His heart nearly broke along with Erik's as he discovered the huddled figures in the wardrobe, hidden behind the coats and desperately trying to muffle their sobs with small hands.

He also saw the tearful apologies, and how Erik calmed down his distraught children. How they ended up all together in the big bed of the twins, both children clutching their father for comfort and Erik wrapping his arms around them and pressing countless kisses to their hair.

Charles knew the trust of the twins had not been damaged beyond repair, but he could understand Erik's doubts and self-accusing.

 

“C'mere, love” he whispered soothingly and drew Erik into a tight embrace. He felt Erik's shoulders shake in silent sobs and cocooned him in warmth, love and comfort with his arms and his mind.

 

It took a long time for Erik to calm down, but Charles was in no hurry whatsoever. He was so glad Erik had come to him and that he could console him.

 

At long last Erik sat up and wiped his eyes, offering Charles a weak smile.

“Thank you.”

 

“Anytime, you know that.”

 

Erik nodded. Then he took Charles hand in his and began speaking haltingly, with obvious trepidation.

 

“Charles... I can't do this on my own. I know I have the others of the brotherhood, but they're more like uncles and aunts and I need... and the twins also need... something ... more. I know things haven't been easy between us and I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for everything, but could you perhaps... think about it?”

 

Charles' smile was bright enough to light up the dark room and he drew Erik forward into another fierce embrace.

“I don't need to think about this, you have my complete and full support. I'd gladly raise the twins with you, and whether you want to move back in here or just come over during the day, you're welcome to everything.”

 

Charles hadn't realized how much tension had been in Erik until it rushed out of him all at once at hearing this.

 

Heartfelt thanks gave way to the first tentative kisses since _that day_ and Charles felt ready to burst with joy at finally having Erik back where his heart insisted he belonged.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, I'm a bit apprehensive about the way things are developing. Thank you!


	5. A new member to the family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all, dear readers, for your patience and encouragement.   
> Thank you especially the Guest over at ff.net who reviewed in September with a request to please update - this chapter is for you, hon. :) Have another short little piece from Pietro's point of view today.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

_ Pietro's POV _

 

Today was the _best_ day.

 

Wanda was a little tired still, so I left her in bed.

 

When I tiptoed into Papa's room to see if I could jump on the bed and wake him, he was already awake, laying with an arm behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. He looked as if he was thinking, and he was frowning a little.

So I jumped on the bed anyway, that always cheers him up.

Papa sat up and caught me, and he grinned like a shark. Then he aimed shark bites at my neck so I had to laugh because Papa's stubble in the morning is tickling!

 

Then we went for a run – that is _so_ much fun! Papa can run really fast for someone whose mutant power isn't being fast like mine.

 

We were staying in a house near the beach. I really like this house because I love the sea. Uncle Charles showed me that I can not only run on solid ground, but also on water if I concentrate. It just depends on the speed and the force with which you hit the water.

 

It's great to run on the beach with Papa – him on the sand and me on the water. 

 

After we had a run we came back to the house and Uncle Janos and Uncle Azazel were making breakfast. Uncle Janos is a really great cook, and Uncle Azazel just gets him everything he needs or wants, even if it's from really far away. So we had pancakes and fresh fruit and fresh cream, too – Uncle Azazel said it was straight from a little Alm in Switzerland he knows.

We've been visiting Europe with Papa and Uncle Azazel a little bit in the last weeks, because Wanda and I wanted to see where Papa and Mama came from, and where they met. But Papa gets really sad or upset if we stay too long, so we only went for short visits.

I talked about it with Uncle Charles, and he hugged me, and said that Papa has a lot of memories from there, and not all are good. And he said we should give him time to make new, happy memories with us and he'd be fine.

I think we should take Uncle Charles on more visits, Papa is never sad when he's around.

 

So after breakfast Papa asked Wanda and me if we'd like to visit Uncle Charles, and of course we wanted, because it's _always_ great to see him.

So Uncle Azazel took us over to the mansion, and Uncle Charles met us on the balcony, and we got to hug him, and tell him all about our day.

 

And then we went inside to the suite where Uncle Charles lives, and had proper tea. Uncle Charles takes tea very seriously, and he told us it is because he's half-British. Wanda and I don't really like the taste unless it's with lots of milk and sugar, but that's fine.

 

And then! The _best_ thing happened.

Uncle Charles and Papa looked at each other for a moment, and Uncle Charles squeezed Papa's hand, and then Papa looked at us and said:

“Pietro, Wanda … you really like the mansion, don't you?”

 

Wanda clapped her hands in excitement. “Oh, _yes_! It's so much fun with Jean and Scott and Ro! And Uncle Charles lives here!”

 

I nodded, though I think it was much faster than other people nod. “The others are great, too, but you're the best, Uncle Charles.”

 

Uncle Charles' eyes were twinkling and he held out his arms. So we happily scrambled over, Wanda into his lap and I into Papa's. I could feel Papa resting his chin on my head and snuggled back against him. Papa is great for wrestling or running, because he's so strong, but he's really good for cuddling, too.

 

I heard Papa clearing his throat, and curiously looked up to him. He hugged me tighter.

 

“So, children. I wanted to tell you, that your Uncle Charles and I...” 

 

He trailed off, but Uncle Charles just rolled his eyes with a smile. “What your Papa is trying to say, is that he and I love each other very much. And if you'd like, we can all be a family.”

 

I guess my eyes must have gone completely round, I know Wanda's did. And then she let out a shriek of joy, and turned to throw her hands around Uncle Charles.

 

I looked to Papa. “Is it really true?”

 

Papa smiled and nodded. “Yes, it's really true. If you want.”

 

This time I nearly made myself dizzy with how fast I was nodding, and Papa laughed and squeezed me. “Slow down, bubeleh. You're going to hurt your neck.”

 

Then I just had to climb into Uncle Charles' lap, too. He laughed and hugged Wanda and me both. “That's quite a welcome, children.”

 

Wanda hugged him a bit more, and then went over to Papa's lap and hugged him too. 

 

“So, can we call you Daddy now?” She asked. Wanda is very practical sometimes.

 

Uncle Charles smiled warmly. “Of course you can, I'll feel very honoured.”

 

“And can we live here, too?” I asked, looking at Papa. 

 

Papa smiled, too. “If you like.”

 

Ohhh, this really was the _best_ day. I couldn't sit still any longer, but had to go for a run then, I felt ready to burst with joy.

 

I ran around the whole grounds of the mansion, and up to the satellite dish where Papa had pushed Uncle Sean off to help him to fly, and then back through the woods, and around the little pool, and then zigzag over the whole lawn, until I fell down in the grass, and just stared up into the sky.

 

This was going to be our home now. And Uncle Charles was going to be our Daddy! I couldn't wait to pack up all our things and move. This was going to be _so_ great.

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!  
> For anyone wondering about why Pietro and Wanda are not weirded out by their Papa loving another man – Magda raised them to be very open minded, having regretted very much that she sent Erik away after Anya's death. I imagine Pietro's gift of being extremely fast must have manifested quite early, and his silver hair was enough to set him apart, too. The children love Charles already and want their Papa to be happy, so of course they'll be thrilled at them all being a family. :)
> 
> Next chapter we'll finally get back to seeing some of Azazel's talents as babysitter – any other ideas, wishes or prompts for the story are very welcome, as always!  
> Have a good week. :)


	6. Fairy Tales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome ba~ack!  
> Shortly before the holidays a new little chapter for you!  
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

 

_Scott's POV_

 

Ever since Pietro and Wanda moved in, things have been even more fun around here. Pietro is about my age and he's always game if you want to play soccer or build a fort or whatever. Wanda likes to play with Jean and Ro, but often they just play boring girl's games like dressing up the dolls or something. It's great to have another boy around. I hope we will get more boys at the school soon.

 

Along with Pietro and Wanda moved in their papa Erik, and Azazel, and Janos. Alex was really tense for a few days after they moved in. One morning I saw him standing with Erik a long way away from the mansion. It looked like Alex was mad, and he was shouting and sometimes shoving Erik, but Erik looked calm and didn't shove back. They were too far away to hear what they were saying, but I couldn't help but watch.

At one point I saw a little of the red plasma start to appear around Alex, like it does when he's really upset. He immediately turned around and went away for a few steps and folded his arms. The Professor has shown him how to calm down so he doesn't hurt anyone with the plasma rings, or sets anything on fire.

 

Erik watched him for a minute, and then walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. I saw Alex tense for a moment, but then he turned around, and Erik drew him into a hug. I guess they made up after that, because when they came in for breakfast Alex was much more relaxed, and smiled again.

 

After our classes we had lunch, and then the X-Men and the Brotherhood had a joint meeting in the Professor's conference room. Azazel offered to entertain us X-kids.

 

Pietro and Wanda were, of course, invited into our circle as soon as it was clear they'd come to the school. We have a tree fort as our headquarters, which was built when the Professor and Mystique grew up here.

 

But Alex helped us improve it a lot, because it was a bit worn over the years, and there were some holes in the roof. Now it's repaired and really sturdy, and bigger, too. And we have some benches along the walls, and a little table. Jean insisted on sewing some curtains for the windows, and to have a little vase with flowers on the table. I guess it's nice, but I'm more interested in keeping us stocked with candy and soda.

 

The Professor gave us some pillows and blankets, too, so it's really comfy now.

 

Azazel asked us what we'd like to do, and Wanda at once asked if we could go to the tree fort and Azazel tell us some stories.

 

I wrinkled my nose, because I always thought fairy tales are just for babies, but Pietro got really excited, too, and told me Azazel tells _**the best**_ stories. So I shrugged and told him we could have a try. Jean and Ro were on board as well. So after a brief detour to the kitchen to stock up on the necessary provisions (cake and ice cream) we all joined hands and Azazel took us to the fort. And while we were all enjoying our ice cream, Azazel asked what we'd like to hear.

 

Jean said: “Do you know Little Red Riding Hood?”

 

Azazel looked quizzical for a moment, but Pietro told him “That's Krasnaja Chapotchka, Uncle Azazel”.

 

Then he smiled.

 

“Da. Are you are all listening, children?”

 

We all nodded, and he began.

 

“There once was a little girl who everyone loved that only saw her. Who loved her most was her grandmother, and she didn't know what Else she could give the little girl. In the end she made her a little riding hood, which was bright red. The little girl loved it so much, she didn't want to wear anything else, and so everyone started calling her 'Little Red Riding Hood'.”

 

I was fascinated. Azazel was a really good story teller, and he also did different voices for the wolf, and Little Red Riding Hood, and the grandmother, and the hunter. It was great. He can come over and tell stories whenever he wants!

Perhaps the Professor will even allow him to teach us history, we still need a teacher for that. And Pietro told me that Azazel has lived a really long time, so he'd be great at history.

 

When we went in for dinner, I didn't have that much hunger, because we had had all this cake and snacks.

 

But the Professor insists that we have at least some vegetables or salad every day, even if we're not very hungry. At first Jean and I wanted to start a mutiny against all these vegetables, but then Hank sat us down for a lecture about what effects a lack of vitamins has on your body - with some really impressive pictures. And as I don't want all my teeth to fall out from scurvy like it apparently happened to the pirates, I eat at least a little salad or something at meals.

 

The rest of the Brotherhood was invited to dinner as well.

I was very excited about that, because I've heard lots about them by Pietro, but haven't had time to meet many of them.

 

Ms. Frost and Ms. Salvadore are very pretty, but also a little scary, so I kept between Alex and Hank to be on the safe side.

 

Jean likes Ms. Frost, because she's a telepath, too, and I guess that's why they get along so well. They didn't talk out loud much, but sometimes Jean would start to giggle, and then you could see a very small smile on Ms. Frost's lips.

It'd be neat to be able to whisper in class without even talking, but then I don't think the Professor would let us get away with it.

 

Pietro and Wanda sat between the Professor and Erik, as they always do.

Wanda told them proudly about all the stories Azazel told us. I looked to Azazel and he winked at me. Ro sat in his lap, which is her favorite place to sit, and he helped her eating, so that not half of her food would end up on the floor.

 

All in all, I think it was really neat to have that many guests at dinner. The Brotherhood should come over more often, especially if Azazel will entertain us in the meantime. He promised next time we could go flying again.

 

I can't wait!

 

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Da = Yes_   
>  _Krasnaja = Red_   
>  _Chapotchka = Little Cap / Hat_
> 
> Yay!  
> Scurvy is not pretty, make sure to eat at least a little bit of fruit or vegetables with all the Christmas Candy, okay? :D
> 
> (If you want more fluffy ficlets with Charles and Erik, you might wanna check out [ Glimpses of Happiness](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3739660) *end of shameless self-promoting*)
> 
> I wish you all happy holidays and/or free time, and a Happy New Year!


	7. Homework

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there lovely readers!
> 
> Have another chapter, yay! I published this before on ff.net as part of “Glimpes of Happiness”, but always considered it part of this verse. I've made a few little changes (mainly “Daddy” instead of “Uncle Charles”), but it's mostly the same.
> 
> Pietro and Wanda are seven and have been going to Charles' school for about half a year now. I'm not quite sure how long ago they and Erik actually moved into the mansion, but it was definitely a few months before that.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> **bold = people speaking telepathically**

 

* * *

 

“But it's boooooring!” Pietro complained, flopping around on the double bed the twins shared, until he was hanging with his head and upper torso upside down over the edge.

 

Wanda nodded decisively, although she remained seated on the bed beside their father, sitting cross-legged.

 

Erik sighed.

 

Truly, it was great to see his children so comfortable and at ease they would whine about boring schoolwork.

 

He still remembered them waking whimpering from nightmares, even unconsciously too afraid to make any noise.

 

He remembered the first time he had an argument with Mystique after the children had arrived, too caught up in their fight to think of two little traumatized kids, and what the loud voices would do to them. He only realized his mistake when Azazel popped between him and Mystique and took them away to the roof, telling them to get it out of their systems up here before they completely destroyed the trust the twins had tentatively developed.

 

Erik had blanched and practically flown down the stairs, only slowing his steps in the flat so as to not to disturb his children further. Seeing Pietro and Wanda huddled together in the wardrobe, half hidden behind the coats and jackets, tear stains on their cheeks and pressing their little hands to their mouths to muffle their sobs, had broken his heart. After teary apologies from his part, he had been able to gently coax the spooked children out of the wardrobe and calm them down. He had vowed to himself to never put them through this again, and he had kept his promise. All discussions within hearing range of the children were kept civil, and if they threatened to escalate he could always rely on Azazel to transport the participants elsewhere until they calmed down.

 

They had all come a long way since then, and Erik was very glad the worst troubles of his children right now were bedtimes and schoolwork.

 

He took a hand of each of his children and spoke patiently.

 

“Pietro. Wanda. Schoolwork is important. You widen your horizons, you learn how to think, and how to discuss, and to make up own minds. Part of school is learning things you don't see the immediate use for but which can still come in handy later.

Besides”, he added with a smile, “you don't want your daddy to give you his disappointed look, now do you?"

 

The twins exchanged thoughtful glances.

 

Nothing was worse than Charles' disappointed look, which Erik knew from first hand experience. He could withstand (and had withstood, in the past) a great deal of physical torture exponentially better than Charles turning his big blue eyes on him and saying “Honestly, Erik”.

 

That was usually all it took nowadays and the great Magneto crumpled like wet paper. (Not that he minded particularly.)

 

**Come now,** said an amused voice in his head, long since welcomed back there, **I'm not as bad as all that.**

 

**I didn't say you were bad at all, Charles. After all, you only use the considerable power of those baby blues for good things.**

 

The laughter he heard at that made a smile tug at Erik's lips as well. He concentrated back on his children.

 

“Anyway, when you've finished your homework, I was thinking uncle Azazel could take us to that lovely café in Montmartre we were visiting last month. What do you think?”

 

“Can daddy come, too?” Wanda asked at once, not to Erik's surprise. The twins adored Charles at least as much as he did.

 

“He's certainly welcome to. Why don't you ask him if he's free later this afternoon?”

 

Wanda was delighted and closed her eyes – it helped her concentrate when speaking telepathically – only to open them up again a minute later and to bounce from the bed, practically running for her desk.

 

“He said he was looking forward to it and that we should write neatly, please.”

 

Pietro sighed but trudged after his sister, resigned to his fate.

 

Wanda was usually the quieter one, happy to follow her brother's lead. But when she got an idea in her head she was a force to be reckoned with, and Pietro wisely went along with her in such situations.

 

Erik smiled and went to give his children each a kiss on the forehead. “Thank you. Come find me or your daddy when you're done.”

 

“Will do, papa”, Wanda waved absent-mindedly, already deeply engrossed in her maths book.

 

Erik left the children to their studies and went to see if he could distract Charles for a little while. After all, there had to be some perks with moving back into the Xavier mansion.

 

**Such excellent ideas, my dear. I'm in the study.**

 

The trademark shark grin broke out on Erik's face. The afternoon was definitely looking up.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> And, as always, all thoughts, ideas or wishes are very welcome, and can be left best in the comments.
> 
> When I have an idea, I can write pretty fast, but unless there are prompts from you, dear readers, you'll just have to wait until a plot bunny bites me on its on. (Which can take several months, as you see.)
> 
> Thank you all the more for your patience.
> 
> Until next time!


	8. A bump in the road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pietro and Wanda visit the fun fair with their papa and uncle Azazel, but not everything goes as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back dear readers!
> 
> I have set the status of this story to finished for now. I have some further ideas, but they will probably be published as stand alone stories later.  
> Please mind the updated tags, and check the chapter end notes for more detailed warnings.  
> Thank you!  
> I hope you enjoy. :D

* * *

 

Azazel delivered Erik and the twins up to the corridor in front of the Master suite; then he vanished.

Erik looked down at his wayward children and shook his head lightly. He motioned them into the sitting room, and told them to have a seat of the sofa.

Erik paced in front of the French doors leading to the balcony for a minute, trying to calm down. Wanda and Pietro watched him anxiously.

 

They had been at a fair with uncle Azazel and papa. Daddy unfortunately had too much paperwork to do, otherwise he would of course have come with them, and this whole mess could have been much less worse.

 

They had had fun at the fair for quite some time. It was the first fair the twins ever went to, and they were really excited to see all the different stalls, and try the food, and ride the Ferris wheel and carousel. Papa had spoken to them seriously about not wandering off before they even left the Mansion. And the twins both had promised to stay near to him.

  
But, well... They had been waiting in line for a ride on the carousel... and it had been boring... and Pietro never coped well with boring things, so he had whispered to Wanda if she wanted to go for a little piggyback ride. Wanda loved riding piggyback on her brother's back, especially when he was speeding around. It sounded much more fun than waiting in line.

 

And, well, so they'd just taken off. Without telling papa or uncle Azazel where they were going. Which might have been not the best idea.

When they came back ten minutes later, after a run around the whole fair and the town, too, Papa had been absolutely frantic. First he grabbed them both in a crushing hug, which was kind of nice. But then he took them both by the hand, and gave them a very stern warning to stay right were they were. And then ordered uncle Azazel to take them back to the Mansion immediately. The twins exchanged uneasy glances, while they watched their papa pace in front of them.

 

At last, Erik ran a hand through his hair, and took a deep breath. He took a seat on the coffee table in front of the sofa and took a hand of each twin.

 

“What you both did today was very naughty. You could have gotten lost in that crowd, you could have gotten hurt somewhere, and neither I nor uncle Azazel would have known where you were. I was really, really scared today. I only just found you, and I'm not willing to loose you again.”

 

“Sorry, papa,” both twins mumbled guiltily.

 

“Thank you for the apology. Now, I've thought about what do with you, and I think it's best if you stay in your room for the rest of the day.”

 

Pietro started shifting in place nervously, and Wanda blanched and asked, stricken: “You mean we're not allowed out?”

 

Erik shook his head. “Not unless you need to use the bathroom. I'll bring you supper up later.”

 

At hearing that, Wanda burst into tears, and Pietro started vibrating in place so fast only a vaguely boy-shaped blur was left to be seen.

 

Erik's ears were bombarded with an increasingly frantic sounding stream of “No, papa, please don't lock us up, we'll be good, please don't, we're sorry!” from both twins, which rapidly became even more incoherent when they fell back into Polish as they became more and more distraught.

He realized with horror what at colossally bad idea it was to confine two traumatized kids to their room, when they had been _kept in fucking cages_ for months.

 

He fell down on his knees in front of the sofa, gathering his children in his arms and telling them, “I'm sorry, I won't lock you up, I didn't think, you don't need to stay in your room.”

He slipped into Polish as well when he showered them with kisses, and endearments, and apologies.

The twins clung to him as hard as he clung to them, and he was so unbelievably grateful that they still sought comfort from him, that they didn't shy away. Even though he just triggered them, he, who should really have known fucking better how terrifying it was to be locked up, having survived the concentration camps and all.

 

They were all much too preoccupied to notice the door opening, but the familiar shape of Charles' wheelchair and pocket watch registered with Erik's subconscious enough that he wasn't startled when he felt waves of calm and love wash over him.

 

Charles came to stop near them, and held out his arms when the twins looked up from Erik's embrace. “I think we all need some family cuddle time now, hm?” he asked softly as he hugged Wanda who had climbed into his lap.

Pietro had stayed with Erik, and the Metalbender picked up his son now when he stood up, setting him on his hip. “Absolutely. What do you think, kids?”

 

The twins nodded, both still hiccuping and sniffling. Erik and Charles carried them to the master bedroom, where they all settled together on the big bed.

 

It took a long while for them all to calm down, but no one was in any hurry to get up. Soon after they finally calmed down, the children fell into an exhausted sleep, safely cocooned between Charles and Erik.

 

* * *

Erik felt like the worst parent ever. First he couldn't keep track of his kids at the fair, going nearly out of his mind with worry when he realized they had taken off.

And then he had triggered one of the worst flashback episodes he could remember since the twins came to live with him. How could he have been so _stupid?!_

 

**Hey,** Charles chided him gently, accompanied by waves of reassurance and love. He reached out and took Erik's hand, careful not to disturb the sleeping children.

**You were worried and scared. You were trying to come up with an appropriate punishment while not being too harsh. I'm guessing your own parents probably grounded you sometimes as a kid?**

 

Erik nodded mutely.

 

**There you go then. And really, there's quite a difference between the twin's bedroom and that lab they were imprisoned in. Though I don't think we'll be grounding them anytime soon.**

 

Erik was wholeheartedly agreeing with that. He still felt very raw, with so many of his own wounds reopened, along with the scares he got today. He turned beseeching eyes to Charles, trusting him to know how to calm his troubled mind and soul.

 

Charles of course knew exactly how to help his partner in need, genius that he was. Erik felt like he had been gathered up in a tight hug by Charles, with a huge, warm blanket woven of love, affection, encouragement, and comfort wrapped around them both.

The storm of feelings, and self-recrimination that was raging inside him slowly abated, until he was calm enough that the exhaustion caught up with him, and he joined his children in slumber.

 

Charles was very happy to watch over his sleeping family, content to have them all save and sound around him.

* * *

When Erik and the kids woke a few hours later, Charles had already arranged for tea and sandwiches. He fondly watched his family descend upon the little feast like a pack of hungry wolves. (Charles had already eaten while they were still asleep.)

 

Afterwards he suggested they all could need some more family cuddle time while they talked, and the twins agreed enthusiastically. Erik smiled a little shyly, but Charles clearly read his relief.

 

Soon they had all settled back on the bed, the parents sitting with their backs against the headboard, each with a twin on his lap.

 

“Wanda, Pietro, I am so sorry I upset you,” Erik began. “That was never my intention.”

 

Wanda, who was sitting in his lap, turned around and hugged him. “I know, papa.”

 

Pietro nodded too, and leaned forward for a hug.

 

Then he sat back against Charles, and asked “Does that mean you won't ground us?”

 

Erik nodded. “Grounding is definitely off the table. Discipline is meant to teach you something, not make you afraid.”

 

Pietro smiled. “So we're all good?”

 

Charles chuckled. “Not so fast, my boy. Running away from your papa and uncle Azazel at the fair still was a naughty thing to do, and we are not going to just let it slide.”

 

Wanda asked, “What are you gonna do?”

 

“Well, what did your mama do when you were naughty?” Charles asked.

 

Pietro sat up indignantly, and put his hands on his hips. “We were _never_ naughty!”

 

“Ah, ah. No fibbing, Pietro,” Charles said firmly.

 

The little boy flopped back on the bed with a dramatic sigh, which relieved Erik rather a lot. Upsetting his kids always left him feeling hollow and terrible, and seeing them act normally afterwards went a long way to convince him they'd be all right eventually.

 

**Of course we will be, love,** Charles told him mentally with much more confidence than Erik felt, and squeezed his hand.

 

“She smacked us on the bum,” Wanda said matter-of-factly.

 

“Okay, and does the thought of papa or me doing that frighten you?”

 

Wanda contemplated that for a moment and then shook her head decisively.

 

“Pietro?” Charles prompted.

 

Pietro sighed again, but admitted reluctantly that the thought didn't scare him either.

 

“But you need to hug us afterwards, and tell us everything is forgiven,” Pietro insisted.

 

Erik and Charles both assured them that they would definitely do that.

 

Charles briskly clapped his hands. “All right, come here, you two.”

 

Pietro and Wanda both shuffled forward until they were next to Charles, looking up at him a bit apprehensively.

 

“I think you know that running away was very dangerous?”

 

Both children nodded.

 

“Good.” Charles reached around, and gave them one firm swat each. Then he pulled them into a hug.

 

“Let that be a warning to you. If you ever do anything that dangerous again, you'll get more than just one swat, are we clear?”

 

Both twins nodded, and Charles kissed their heads in turn. “Thank you. You're both forgiven. Though I think you owe uncle Azazel an apology as well.”

 

“Yes, daddy,” came the chorus from the twins.

 

They gave Charles one last squeeze, then sat back and turned to their papa, to offer him another apology, and get another hug from him.

 

Then Pietro jumped from the bed and was gone in the blink of an eye, off to find Azazel.

 

Wanda followed at a more leisurely pace.

 

Erik turned to Charles, his throat feeling tight. “Thank you. I couldn't have handled actually disciplining them today after that whole fiasco.”

 

Charles tugged on Erik's hand until he leaned forward enough for a hug. “It's no problem, you know that.”

 

Charles clearly sensed the gratitude and wonder Erik felt at having him in his life again, and raising the twins together. He shared all the love and gratitude he felt himself that Erik had had the courage to ask for this.

 

In times like this, when it was hard for either of them to even put feelings into words, it came in very handy to be a telepath.

 

**The kids are occupied, and our schedules are free.** Charles told Erik silently.

 

Erik chuckled. “And we're conveniently already in bed.” He locked the door to the bedroom with a flick of his hand.

 

“I like the way you think, Charles.”

 

Charles grinned. “Ditto, my dear.”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Detailed warnings*
> 
> \- Pietro and Wanda get into trouble at the fun fair. Erik accidentally triggers the twins by trying to ground them. They are reminded of their time in captivity, and are really panicked. Erik realizes his mistake at once and comforts them. 
> 
> \- Charles and Erik talk through with the twins which consequences will not be scary for them, as grounding is definitely out. They settle on spanking together, and they both get one swat.  
> In real life I only recommend spanking between consenting adults. If parental spanking of kids disturbs you, this is not the chapter for you. Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> If you'd like to see the original post on xmfk:  
> http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/8700.html?thread=19109116


End file.
